William Fisher

The human rights community has responded angrily to the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the cases of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, until they have exhausted all other legal avenues. The effect of the high court’s decision Monday is to deny civil judicial review to the 300-plus prisoners still held at the controversial U.S. … Continue reading “Guantanamo Detainees Dealt a Legal Blow”

As Australian David Hicks awaits sentencing after being the first Guantánamo detainee convicted under the Military Commissions Act, human rights groups, legal scholars and some lawmakers are condemning the entire MCA process and again challenging its constitutionality both in the courts and in the U.S. Congress. Earlier this week, Hicks, 31, pleaded guilty to providing … Continue reading “Guilty Plea Won’t Dampen Gitmo Controversy”

In stark contrast to last week’s U.S. court decision upholding the Military Commissions Act, Canada’s court has unanimously struck down a law that would allow the Canadian government to use secret evidence to detain foreign-born terror suspects indefinitely without charges or open court hearings. “The overarching principle of fundamental justice that applies here is this: … Continue reading “US, Canada Diverge on Terror War Tactics”

In the face of multiple legal and legislative challenges, President George W. Bush this week issued an executive order to allow cases against prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba to move forward to trials by military tribunals. The challenges are to the constitutionality of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA), which Bush signed into law … Continue reading “Guantánamo Trials Near Amid Myriad Challenges”

A senior US defense department official who suggested that major corporations should stop doing business with large law firms who represent Guantánamo Bay detainees has apologized for his remarks – but his apology failed to satisfy some legal and human rights advocates. The remarks were made on a Washington, DC radio program Tuesday by Charles … Continue reading “A Mea Culpa, But No Habeas Corpus”

As the new Democratic majority in the U.S. Congress considers whether to revisit the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA), the administration of President George W. Bush is proposing still more restrictions on detainees in U.S. custody. The government has proposed limiting contact between defense lawyers and detainees at Guantanamo Bay because it says detainees’ … Continue reading “US Seeks Near-Total Isolation for Gitmo”

"America, in this young century, proclaims liberty throughout all the world, and to all the inhabitants thereof." So spoke U.S. President George W. Bush in his second inaugural address last January, vowing to help build democratic institutions and strengthen civil society in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. Yet today, the Bush administration is … Continue reading “US Democracy Crusade Falls by the Wayside”

As demonstrated by yesterday’s landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the legality of military tribunals to try "enemy combatants," the administration of President George W. Bush has consistently sought to expand the power of the presidency in the name of the "global war on terror." The president has claimed he has "inherent rights" under the … Continue reading “Courts, Congress Resist Growing White House Power”

Last March, the U.S. Congress passed legislation requiring Justice Department officials to give them reports by certain dates on how the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is using the USA PATRIOT Act to search homes and secretly seize papers. But when President George W. Bush signed the measure into law, he added a "signing statement." … Continue reading “Is Bush Signing Away the Constitution?”

As new reports detail further abuse by the U.S. military of its prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan, a behind-the-scenes battle is being fought between the U.S. Departments of State and Defense about whether a key section of the Geneva Conventions should be included in new rules governing Army interrogation techniques. The Pentagon is pushing to … Continue reading “Pentagon Resists Ban on ‘Degrading Treatment’”